Clearwave Communications selects Calix gear for middle-mile BTOP broadband stimulus project
JANUARY 6, 2010 -- Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX) says that Clearwave Communications has selected equipment from the Calix Unified Access portfolio for The Southern Illinois Broadband Opportunities Partnership Project, a middle-mile network designed to help bring advanced broadband services to 23 counties in southern Illinois. The project earned broadband stimulus funding via the Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP).
The Clearwave broadband stimulus award consists of more than $45 million in overall funds, including a $31.5 million federal grant, an $11.3 million grant from the State of Illinois, a $400 thousand grant from the Counties of Southern Illinois, and $2.1 million in private investment. The Southern Illinois Broadband Opportunities Partnership Project will leverage 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE), point-to-point Gigabit Ethernet, and gigabit passive optical network (GPON) technology to bring fiber services to more than 232 anchor institutions, and facilitate broadband services to approximately 300,000 households and 55,000 businesses. The network will provide broadband speeds from 10 Mbps to 1 Gbps.
“Despite a wealth of talent and resources, Southern Illinois has lacked a widespread competitive broadband infrastructure to stimulate economic growth and new jobs,“ said Scott Riggs, president and founder of Clearwave. “This project will provide world-class broadband connectivity to community institutions throughout the region, and the foundation for advanced broadband services to all of its businesses and citizens.”
Clearwave will deploy a mix of Ethernet extensible architecture (EXA) Powered Calix platforms, including the Calix C7 Multiservice Access Platform (MSAP) and E7 Ethernet Service Access Platform (ESAP). Clearwave will be upgrading many of its existing C7 MSAPs to facilitate the deployment of new services in its existing network, and leveraging the modularity of the E7-2 for network growth outside of its existing footprint. Clearwave will deploy both platforms in combination with Calix 700GX/GbE ONTs, capable of auto-detecting both GPON and Gigabit Ethernet services and delivering full line rate symmetrical Gigabit Ethernet services across both technologies.
With today’s announcement, aggregate Calix vendor selections by broadband stimulus winners for “last mile” and “middle mile” awards has now reached 21 different projects representing approximately $270 million in stimulus-related grants, loans, and private investment for plant engineering, materials, labor, and other costs, including access equipment.
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